7 Useful Emotions Words (Reactions) in Japanese

Whether you have just started learning Japanese and perhaps covered some basic phrases and questions or are a seasoned learner in the language, you might have thought, “How do I tell my feelings?” You might know some adjectives already, but is that what native speakers say? We can find that out right now.

Before you watch this video, have you…

• Ever thought of learning Japanese, but have no access to classes?
• Learned Japanese, but want to speak more?
• Given up on speaking Japanese before?
• Been tired of your classmates who are unmotivated?
• OR are you UNMOTIVATED to study Japanese?

What you will learn after reading this article:

Video example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h2uRODKgmM

Embarrassed in Japanese

The video starts when Sayaka stumbles on something and falls to the ground, with strangers’ eyes glancing at her mishap. She feels embarrassed. Under her breath, she tell herself, はずかしい (hazukashii) and tries to get out of the situation quickly. 

Here’s another situation: where someone might call themselves はずかしい.

So make sure you don’t have any seaweed stuck between your teeth after eating onigiri or any bowl of noodles or rice with shreds of seaweed.

Feeling hurt in Japanese

In the next scene, Sayaka gets hit by a ball in the head and says いったっ！

Want to sound like a native speaker? Just react like a Japanese person. There are so many variations of いたい（痛い）that Japanese people say as a reaction to pain.

Depending on the duration of pain, the strength of pain, people might choose a different variation of いたい. Watch your favorite anime and see if they use any of these!

Angry in Japanese is not “okoru”?

What is angry in Japanese? Some of you might say おこる（怒る – okoru). However, we would not say this out loud. This would mean “to be angry/to be pissed” rather than to show angry feelings. The dictionary translation of “angry” is not really useful in expressing our protecting your own anger.

Here’s some BLOG BONUS content (not covered in the video) for you:

How do you show anger at someone then? (although you really shouldn’t… or you might use it in a less serious situation like someone playing a prank on you)

は？ or  あ？ (sounds like “huh?” and “arr?”)

This is a quick reactive way to show some anger, often heard by stubborn parents and irritated schoolboys in anime. You can see Sayaka being angry in this video!

おい！and コラ！(“oi” and “korah”)

Another reactive word to say to direct anger is by saying おい！and コラ！The difference with は？ or あ？is that these terms tend to be used to grab someone’s attention. For example:

An unkind stranger bumps into your shoulder while walking in a busy train station. He might look back at you and say おい！

Or: a child is not behaving well in the grocery store and tries to knock a piece of fruit off the display. The child’s parent calls out shouting コラ！to scold them.

Sometimes an agitated person might shout both おい、コラ！Hopefully you are not put in a situation where someone may say that.

We looked at a few ways to start a fight (but you shouldn’t be). But how do we describe other people showing anger?

When we see that other people are upset, we describe those situations using these forms of the verb okoru:

おこっている – “okotteru”

When the verb okoru is in the present continuous form, it means that someone is expressing anger. 

Example:

This can be translated as “to be scolded” or “to be told off.” Therefore, you would want to use this phrase when someone is scolding you. For example,

9:00にかえらないとおやにおこられるよ。

(My parents will be mad if I don’t be home at 9 – in informal speech)

今日（きょう）、上司（じょうし）におこられました。

(My boss scolded me today – in formal speech)

Happy in Japanese

「これ、どうぞ」(Please take this!)

「え、ありがとうございます！ 」(Really? Thank you!)

After getting hurt from a baseball hitting her, Sayaka receives a chocolate ice cream bar from the boy. She let her eyes glow and said thank you. In her heart, she yells うれしい！ with a joyous tone. This is a common reaction used in many happy situations. It can be used like “I’m so glad” in English.

You will often hear it combined with words to emphasize feelings such as:

Now instead of simply saying thank you after receiving something, you can also tell them that you are glad to receive such a gift. 

If you want to learn other ways to say “I’m happy” in Japanese, check this video out!

Let’s Practice

• A) いてー！
• B) はずかしい
• C) おこっている

• A) いった！
• B) いてー！
• C) いたっ

• A) いってー！
• B) いたーい
• C) いたっ

• A) おこる
• B) はずかしい
• C) うれしい

Check: How many did you get correct? Leave it in the comment! 🙂 

Sad in Japanese

The phone rings and Sayaka reaches into her purse to grab her phone, but oops. The chocolate ice cream bar fell on the ground. She cannot help but to make a sad face.

かなしい… you might chirp this the instance something sad happens to you. Hopefully if you are around good friends they will show empathy and say “かなしいね…” (explained later) or share some encouraging words. If they ignore you then you need better friends (or they need to study more Japanese)

かなしいね can be a kind way to share empathy with someone else. The ね at the end of the adjective creates a mood of empathy or an intention to relate to someone else’s feeling. To only say かなしい would describe your own feelings. However, we would want to say かなしいね when a friend talks about an unfortunate event.

If you want to read about the use of sentence end particles like よ and ね, check back to our blog for a future article detailing them!

Scared in Japanese

To express scared feelings in Japanese, you can use the word “こわい” (kowai), which means “scary” or “frightening.” Let me provide an example situation:

Imagine you are walking alone in a dark and quiet street at night. Suddenly, you hear a strange noise behind you, and you start feeling uneasy.

You can say this in a softer pitch, or a more reactive, sudden way. Just like いたい, this reactive statement can have different variations.

Occasionally, people may say: ビビった (bibitta) after getting scared. This means “I got scared” and it can be used in the same context as “I almost peed my pants”

“You’re scary not cute”

I find it funny when people say the Japanese phrase “kawaii”, they sound like they are saying “I’m scared” instead of “cute”. Yes, you heard it right. Make sure you are not saying こわい (kowai) instead of “かわいい”  (kawaii). Notice how かわいい has a vowel extension at the end, whereas こわい does not. Usually it is the lack of the vowel extension that leads Japanese people to think you are saying こわい and not かわいい. 

Excited in Japanese

I often get asked, “how do you say I’m excited in Japanese?” So I will teach you one last emotion word in Japanese today which is 楽しみ！(たのしみ/tanoshimi) 

Translation:

You can apply what we learned about sentence-end particles earlier to say:

たのしみだね。Sounds exciting!

And as a response to that you can say: はい、たのしみです。

Yes, I am excited!

Grammar note: Notice how the だ is added before the sentence ending particle since たのしみ is a na-adjective.

Another related phrase you might use to create plans with friends is this:

たのしみにしてる！

I’ll be excited!

Let’s Practice

• A) いてー！
• B) かなしい
• C) うれしい

• A) たのしみだね
• B) おつかれさま
• C) こわっ！

Ready to learn more?

Now you know how to react or respond when you feel a certain way when you are around Japanese speakers. These emotion words and reactions will be very useful and are a great way to lighten up the mood or even start a conversation

Go comment on Sayaka’s flashy Instagram posts with the correct form of any adjective and impress us! Do it!

Have you…

• Ever thought of learning Japanese, but have no access to classes?
• Learned Japanese, but want to speak more?
• Given up on speaking Japanese before?
• Been tired of your classmates who are unmotivated?
• OR are you UNMOTIVATED to study Japanese?

Then you should check out Sayaka’s Beginners Japanese lessons! With engaging weekly lessons covering task-based conversation practice, kanji, grammar for different situations, and useful phrases, you will for sure fall in love with all the fun and warmth you will experience in Sayaka’s class. Check her 101/102/103 and 104 classes out here!

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